Mental Health and Wellness Graduate Certificate: Grief and Bereavement Emphasis

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Overview

Specialize in Grief and Bereavement With GCU’s Certificate Program

At Grand Canyon University (GCU), the Graduate Certificate in Mental Health and Wellness with an Emphasis in Grief and Bereavement program supports mental health professionals in expanding their career with a specialization in grief and bereavement. As a student, you will have the opportunity to gain knowledge and an in-depth understanding of dying and death, loss and bereavement within the context of mental health and wellness. 

This online program introduces you to research and best practices of mental health and wellness when working with the bereaved and those affected by loss. Study concepts of human nature as it relates to cognitive, behavioral, interpersonal, mental, spiritual, family and social dynamics. This mental health certificate with grief and bereavement emphasis is designed to build upon the expertise of licensed mental health professionals and does not lead to additional licensure.

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Why GCU

Develop Skills To Counsel Others Through Emotional Recovery

Experiencing the death of a loved one is one of the most difficult human experiences to endure. Adopting this specialty prepares you to play a role in the emotional recovery of others and enhance their ability to:

  • Express and get in touch with feelings and thoughts
  • Work toward restoring normalcy in their lives
  • Bring memories from the past to present
  • Develop a new sense of self 
  • Move forward

Guide Healing With Compassion and Faith

With a focus in grief and bereavement, therapists, counselors, psychologists, social workers and health professionals help individuals cope with personal loss of a loved one and move on toward a positive adjustment. Equipped with a graduate certificate in mental health and wellness with grief and bereavement emphasis, you can serve as a support system guiding individuals through the grieving process, from mourning and deep negative emotions to acceptance of a new reality and resilience.

As a Christian university, GCU promotes supportive learning experiences with a faith-oriented approach. Students learn from a curriculum rooted in the Christian worldview. Thus, as a grief and bereavement student, you will be taught to serve with kindness, compassion, empathy and ethical decision making.

Coursework

Incorporate Grief and Bereavement Specialty Courses

Learn about coping techniques and behavioral strategies that aid those grieving in overcoming complications, such as unresolved issues, prolonged mourning, a preoccupation with the death of a loved one and depressive symptoms.

This certificate in wellness and mental health with grief and bereavement studies program emphasizes the following competencies:

Explanation of grief recovery theories and models

Assessment of how worldview, culture, spirituality and religion impact the grieving process

Evaluation of how diverse types of loss and individual differences affect grieving

Development of strategies designed for those grieving at different life stages

Grief and Bereavement Areas of Study

While in the mental health and wellness certificate with emphasis in grief counseling program, you will engage with these areas of study:

  • History of grief research, common and shared experiences related to death, various forms of loss and unique characteristics of those grieving
  • The journey of the bereaved, biopsychosocial responses and myths, along with an examination of healthy and unhealthy coping mechanisms
  • Concept of death in society, research, theories and case studies on the sociocultural dimensions of dying, end-of-life issues and grief management
  • How culture, spirituality and society shape our understanding and experience of death, as well as an understanding of the factors that influence views of death
Careers

Explore Career Options in Mental Health and Wellness

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This graduate certificate in mental health and wellness with grief and bereavement emphasis can build upon your existing skills as a mental health professional. 

Having competencies in grief and bereavement can benefit those in the following positions:

Therapists

Counselors

Psychologists

Social workers

Community health outreach and program specialists

Community center coordinator

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

If you are a mental health professional who is interested in specializing in grief and bereavement, read our answers to these frequently asked questions about earning your mental health certificate online with grief and bereavement emphasis.

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